Mark Lancaster

Fund Britain’s Waterways flotilla heading for Westminster!

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Mark Lancaster

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September 20, 2023

A FLOTILLA of boats will navigate the tidal River Thames to Westminster in November to support the campaign for better funding of Britain’s waterways. This cruise past the Houses of Parliament follows the successful event held in Birmingham in August when between 40 and 50 boats filled the canal outside the Mailbox. Action group Fund…
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Dry dock ‘n’ roll

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Mark Lancaster

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August 23, 2023

Banbury’s unique piece of nationally recognised industrial revolution heritage – Tooley’s Boatyard – is throwing open the doors to its 254-year-old dry dock, the UK’s oldest on the canal system, for ten days of music, comedy and theatre to coincide with the Banbury canal festival. Tooleys have teamed up with award-winning floating venue boat The…
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See Foxton Locks from a different perspective this summer

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Mark Lancaster

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August 4, 2023

The Canal & River Trust is inviting visitors to see Foxton Locks from a different perspective this summer as it announces a new programme of events and activities. The charity, which cares for the popular landmark as part of its 2,000-mile canal network across England and Wales, is holding a series of activities enabling people…
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Flagship award for floating bookshop

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Mark Lancaster

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August 2, 2023

A floating bookshop has received recognition for its historical importance. Sally Clifford finds out more. “I PLAYED cricket where we are stood when it was empty without coal.” For Peter Claxton, stepping aboard the former coal barge his father Norman skippered for a decade or so evoked fond memories of school holidays spent on the…
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Organise a National Trailboat Festival

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Mark Lancaster

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July 18, 2023

FESTIVALS are very useful for drawing attention locally and nationally to the restoration or improvement project your team is working on. A greater awareness of your need for more support is generated as a result of that attention. Festivals are encouraged and promoted by the IWA to highlight your restoration project. You will draw local…
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Government funding cuts put future of nation’s historic canals at risk

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Mark Lancaster

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July 12, 2023

Following today’s announcement from the Government, Canal & River Trust is issuing a stark warning that a reduction in grant funding of over £300 million in real terms will threaten the future of the nation’s historic canals, leading to their decline and to the eventual closure of some parts of the network. The reduced grant…
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Locking Ahead – the future of maintenance planning

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Mark Lancaster

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June 28, 2023

In the third article about how the Canal & River Trust maintains its 200-year-old system, national boating manager Matthew Symonds looks at some of the challenges that lay ahead. THE canal network is one of the nation’s greatest regeneration stories. From losing many hundreds of miles of waterways in the last century as canals stopped…
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Montgomery Canal Forum

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Mark Lancaster

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June 14, 2023

Wednesday 21 June 2023 New restoration projects – benefits of the reopened canal – plans for the future This year’s Montgomery Canal Forum will be hosted at the Aico Centre of Excellence, Maesbury Road, Oswestry SY10 8NR, a short distance from the canal, on Wednesday, 21 June 2023, at 2.30 pm. The Forum follows Presentations…
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Funding secured for next phase of ecology park

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Mark Lancaster

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April 27, 2023

LICHFIELD and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust has secured a £250,000 grant from Biffa Award for the next phase of its Darnford Moors Ecology Park project. It will restore the canal channel from Darnford Lane to the lift-bridge, providing habitat improvements with wetland margins and hedgerow corridors. LHCRT chairman Carole Mills said: “This is excellent news…
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Waterways Ireland set to dispose of 10 vessels

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Mark Lancaster

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March 31, 2023

Marine Notice No. 21 of 2023 advises that Waterways Ireland will be disposing, by public tender, of 10 vessels which have been removed from its navigations. The varied collection includes Freeman, Seamaster and Dawncraft cruisers, two type of sailing craft, a speedboat and a 60ft long x 13ft wide steel hulled barge fitted with a…
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New lighting for middle Trent locks

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Mark Lancaster

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March 28, 2023

WORKS have been underway this winter to upgrade the lighting of the River Trent locks between Nottingham and Newark. “The current lighting has reached end of life as replacement bulbs are no longer available,” a workman said. Improvements at Stoke Lock have now been completed and in March work began on Hazelford Lock. When complete…
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Volunteers Give Canal Charity Helping Hand to Spring Clean UK’s Deepest Lock

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Mark Lancaster

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March 10, 2023

Canal & River Trust volunteers have given the UK’s deepest single lock a special spring clean, as the charity prepares its historic waterways for a busy year of boating. Maureen Readle was among the volunteers getting stuck in to help to clear tonnes of leaves from the bottom of the partially drained 20ft-deep lock chamber…
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Canal & River Trust asks boaters to take part in consultation on boat licence fees

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Mark Lancaster

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February 20, 2023

Canal & River Trust is carrying out a consultation with boaters to gather feedback on boat licence pricing over the next ten years to help support the long-term future of the 2,000 miles of waterways that the charity manages across England & Wales. Faced with the growing pressures of maintaining ageing waterways and the increased…
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Cromford Canal Friends mourn loss of popular boat horse

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Mark Lancaster

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February 14, 2023

I AM very sad to report that our dear, delightful, docile boat horse Chelsea, has passed on to that great stable in the sky, writes Hugh Potter, archivist and editor for the Friends of Cromford Canal. She enthusiastically pulled Birdswood for many years and fretted so much when her owners Arraslea Shires tried to retire…
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Mark Lancaster

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